NC graduation rate reaches 88.8% as school performance measures improve
State accountability results show higher test proficiency, fewer low-performing schools and a record four-year graduation rate, although some measures continue to show substantial room for improvement.
RALEIGH — North Carolina’s four-year public school graduation rate reached a record 88.8% during the 2025-26 academic year, while statewide testing and school performance measures also improved, according to results presented Wednesday to the State Board of Education.
The graduation rate increased from 87.8% in 2024-25, the N.C. Department of Public Instruction reported. The statewide composite proficiency rate for all end-of-grade and end-of-course subjects rose to 59.2%, its highest level in three years.
Grade-level proficiency improved to a three-year high on 14 of the 15 reading and mathematics tests included in the report. DPI said results for every reported racial and ethnic subgroup also reached three-year highs.
College and career readiness, which requires students to score at a higher level than grade-level proficiency, increased from 34.7% in 2024-25 to 37.5% in 2025-26. Results improved on 16 of the 18 tests used for that measure. Third- and fourth-grade reading were the exceptions.
Biology recorded one of the largest increases. Proficiency rose from 48% to 59% in one year. The share of English learners making progress or exiting that classification reached 36%, compared with 27% in 2023-24.
School performance grades also improved. The percentage of schools receiving a D or F declined from 31% to 23%. The state designated 162 fewer schools as low-performing and nearly 100 fewer as continually low-performing. Ten school districts received low-performing designations, 13 fewer than the previous year and the lowest number since 2018-19.
Not every measure improved. The percentage of students earning at least a silver certificate on ACT WorkKeys declined to 59%, compared with 60% in 2023-24.
DPI also cautioned that the increase in the average ACT score to 18.4 included a one-time correction. ACT rescored affected spring 2026 online school-day exams after identifying a technical scoring problem.
The accountability results measure academic performance under the state’s current school grading and testing system. DPI’s Accountability Task Force is examining whether additional measures should be considered to provide a broader assessment of student and school performance.
Editor’s note:
This article was drafted with the assistance of artificial intelligence and was reviewed and fact-checked by a member of the NC Political News editorial team before publication.
